Vickie Martin

This is part of the Flying Sister’s Blog Circle – follow it around to find out what movies other women found inspirational.  Mine is not a movie, but a documentary series that I have watched more than once!

POWER OF ART is a BBC documentary series by Simon Schama, a professor of art and history at Columbia University.  In his own words”

“This is not a series about things that hang on walls, it is not about decor and prettiness.  It is a series about the force, the need, the passion of art – 

….the power of art.”

“Great art has dreadful manners”

“The hushed reverence of the gallery can fool you into believing masterpieces are polite things; visions that soothe, charm and beguile, but actually they are thugs. Merciless and wily, the greatest paintings grab you in a headlock, rough up your composure, and then proceed in short order to re-arrange your sense of reality.”

He then takes us on an amazing journey,  highlighting eight masterpieces, from Caravaggio’s David and Goliath to Picasso’s Guernica. He takes you into the lives of eight great artists, each who faced a crisis and created masterpieces that changed the way we look at both art and the world.

Sometimes told in a “wink wink, nudge nudge”way, you feel as you really get to know each artist and thus understand their world.

Each of the eight episodes examines the biography, the world and a key work with some reenactments:

• Carvaggio – David and the Head of Goliath
• Bernini – The Ecstacy of Saint Teresa
• Rembrandt – The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis
• David – The Death of Marat
• Turner – The Slave Ship
• van Gogh – Wheatfields and Crows
• Picasso – Guernica
• Rothko – Black on Maroon

Why did I find this series so inspirational?

Take a look at the works below. With the first installment, it begins with an artist – Caravaggio – leaving Rome because he killed a man, I was hooked.  The “wink wink” style of storytelling even called Rembrandt “Mr. Cleverclogs”.

DAVID AND GOLIATH by Caravaggio. The head of Goliath is a self portrait.

Bernini

Rembrandt
After he slashed the painting, this is only a fifth of the original work – all that is left

Van Gogh

Guernica
Picasso

David
The Death of Marat

JMW Turner
Slave Ship

Rothko
Black on Maroon

This series simply made me want to learn MORE!  Below is a small snippet from the Rembrandt episode.

Now, follow the Flying Sisters blog circle around to see other inspirational works.  Next up is Lulu Bea – click here to see her inspiration movie!  Enjoy your journey.

PS – this is available on Netflix and YouTube